Watch Meat-Loving Kids Unknowingly Eat Vegan Food

We can’t imagine what it’s like to be a vegan in a meat-loving world. It must be tough to constantly have to defend your food choices—especially when it comes to the topic of vegan meat and dairy substitutes. Even those “bleeding” faux meat burgers, impressive as they are, have garnered some skepticism.​

​We sympathize with you. Really, we do. But it’s unlikely that any vegans out there have actually had to defend their substitution ingredients as staunchly as the makers of this video, who were met with the most verbal, stubborn critics of all: little kids. In the clip, which is slowly going viral, several children are given plates of various classic meals, each more delicious-looking than the next. The catch, of course, is that each plate contains at least one mystery vegan ingredient, and they’re not forewarned about that fact.​

​The first dish is a plate of chicken nuggets, or rather vegan “chik’n nuggets.” The kids react fantastically at first, declaring that the nuggets taste “better than McDonalds.” But after they’re told that the nuggets contain no chicken whatsoever, their happiness quickly transforms into shock.

​“Then what is this?” one girl asks, horrified. Upon learning that the nuggets are totally vegan, one child even lets out a shrill scream.

​Next up: Vegan nachos with vegan cheese and vegan sausage, followed by a burger with a slice of “bacon,” and a soy ice cream sandwich for dessert. The kids all enjoy the food—you might even go so far as to say they love it—but none is willing to admit as much.

​“I guarantee you this is 100% bacon,” one boy assures the camera (and himself) as he bites into the burger happily​.

​“Do you want to be vegan now with all this vegan food you’ve been having?” the off-camera voice asks each of the kids.

​“No, I want to be American," says one boy.

​“I feel sorry for vegans that they can’t eat such good meat,” says another.

​And when asked whether they think veganism might be better for the environment than continuing to fuel the meat industry, a disdainful participant has a simply answer: “No.”​

​Only one girl is brave enough to admit how she really feels. “I love vegan food,” she concedes, but the look on her face is positively despondent.

​Sorry, vegans. If this crop of kids is any indication, looks like you’ve still got a little PR work to do.​